Pruning-shears.



s. c. TAYLOR. PRUNING SHEARS.

IAPPLIOATIOK FILED AUG. 5, 1909.

973,996;- .Patented 001;.25, 1910.

gsfifaylor arm SAMUEL G. TAYLOR, 0F LEAGUE CITY, TEXAS.

' PRUNING-SHEARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 25, 1910.

Application filed August 5, 1909. Serial No. 511,328.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL C. TAYLOR, a subject of the King of England,residing at League City, in the county of Galveston and State of Texas,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pruning- Shears, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in shears, andmore particularly to pruning shears such as are used in trimming trees,hedge bushes and other horticultural products.

The primary object of my invention is to provide a simply constructeddevice of this character, by means of which the shears may be rapidlyoperated to effectively and, neatly perform the cutting operation.

Another object is to provide suitable cutting blades, which are sodisposed relatively to each other, that a partial draw out may beobtained upon the operation of the shears, with a minimum strain uponthe muscles of the hand of the operator.

A further object is to provide a pruning shears, one of the blades ofwhich is pivotally mounted on the end of the operating handle, and isadapted to rotate upon the movement of said handle, suitable stops beingprovided to limit such rotative movement.

With these and other objects in view, the present invention consists inthe combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter morefully described and par ticularly pointed out in the appended claim, itbeing understood that changes in the specific structure shown anddescribed may be made within the scope of the claim without departingfrom the spirit of the invention.

In the drawings forming a part of this specification, and in which likenumerals of reference indicate similar parts in the several views,Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved pruning shears. Fig. 2 is asimilar View, the shears being shown in closed position. Fig. 3 is adetail vertical section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, there are shown the two pivoted operatinghandles 1 and 2 having their outer ends reversely curved, as shown at 3.It will be noted that the curvature of the handle 1 is considerablygreater than that of the handle 2. Each of the handles have their lowerends split and curved in opposite directions, as shown at 4: to providemeans to prevent the hand of the operator from slipping from the handlesduring the manipulation of the shears. The handle 2 also has a verticalprojection 5 integrally formed therewith to form a finger rest and thusfurther facilitate the easy operation of the shears.

Pivoted upon the extremity of the handle 2, there is a sector cuttingblade 6, which extends toward the member 3, and which swings upon itspivot longitudinally of the shears. The pivot bolt 7 which supports theblade 6 uponvthe end of the handle 2, is formed with a reduced portion 7which extends through the enlarged portion 6 of the blade, and uponwhich said blade is adapted to have rotative movement. A nut 8 hasthreaded engagement with the reduced end of the pivot bolt, the otherend thereof being formed with a suitable head 8, whereby any transversemovement of the bolt is prevented. Upon the edge of the member- 10, thispin being located at the lower endof the curved portions 3 of theoperating handles. A spiral spring 11 is disposed be tween the handles 1and 2 and has its ends secured to the integrally formed studs 12, whichare oppositely disposed upon the handles. This spring is normallyadapted to retain the handles in open position, the sector blade 6'being entirely out of engagement with the curved end 3 of the handle 1,and held in such position by means of the rear stop 9 formed upon theedge of the other of the handle members.

In devices of this kind it has been found necessary to allow theopposite cutting edges to converge inwardly, and frequently when engagedwith a branch, the branch will slip outwardly on account of the angle atwhich the cutting edges converge. This is largely induced by therelative longitudinal movement between the two cutting edges at whichsome slipping action is forced to occur by reason of the draw out effectproduced. This fault is largely overcome in the present invention, aswill be now indicated.

In operation, the parts being in the posiblade will be forced inwardlyagainst the stop 9, its inner edge portion thus being swung away fromthe cutting edge 3 of the member 1 at its inner portion. Upon theinitial movement of the handle in the cutting action, it will be seenthat there will be no slipping engagement of the cutting edges upon thematerial by reason of the fact that the blade 6 is freely pivoted andmay move outwardly a limited distance. After a short movement of theopposite members of the shears, however, the pin 9 engages the blade 6upon its outer side, and holds it in rigid relation with the portion?)of the handle 2,

by which its cutting edge is' moved slightly longitudinally inengagement with the material being cut, thus effecting a draw out in thefinal and most difficult portion of the operation of the device.

and eflicient pruning shears, one of the blades of which has mdependentmovement which is adapted to be held initially against longitudinalcutting action by the material engaged, and thus more easily andefficiently perform the functions for which my improved shears aredesigned.

The various parts of my improved shears may be readily assembled, andbeing of eX- tremely simple construction, the device may be veryinexpensively manufactured.

hat is claimed is:

I11 a pair of shears, the combination with two pivoted cross members, ofa sectoral blade pivoted at its minor end to the forward portion of oneof the members for movement longitudinally of the said member, and apair of stops carried by the said member at opposite sides of the pivotpoint of the blade, said stops being located in the path of movement ofthe blade to limit the movement thereof in both directions, saidsectoral blade extending toward. the forward portion of the other memberand being arranged for movement thereover when the forward portions ofthe two members are brought toward each other.

In testimony whereof I a-ffix my signature, in presence of twowitnesses.

SAMUEL C. TAYLOR.

J. R. MOBERLY.

